There is more to treating skin of color than meets the eye. Cultural influences can be important factors in patients' maladies as well as issues of noncompliance and treatment choices. Learning about the culture is as important as learning about the physiology.
Dermatologist Robert S. Kirsner, M.D., Ph.D., has run five marathons - crossing the finish in one last year in an impressive 3:36.
Elk Grove Village, Ill. - Physicians who practice with compassion and know their limits are better able to treat their patients, according to Michael Greenberg, M.D., a dermatologist practicing in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Virtually every modifier came about in response to some abuse by physicians that has been identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Professional financial planners have no incentive to get you to do a lot of buying and selling. They charge an annual fee based on the size of your investment portfolio.
You will need to refurbish everything from patient registration to back-end claims processing to make sure those high-deductible patients pay what they owe.
New understanding about the pathogenesis of cardiocutaneous desmosome disorders is providing clues for early diagnosis and perhaps, one day, treatments, an expert says.
Clinical trials are necessary before products can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and often afterward, as product safety and efficacy are further investigated.
Dermatologists and other physicians are facing another battle over Medicare fees, with a 9.9 percent cut looming for 2008 unless Congress steps in and provides another one-year fix - or manages an unlikely long-term solution to the problem.
Recent regulations may bar, for the very first time, expert advisers to the FDA who receive money from either a pharmaceutical or device manufacturer from voting to approve that company's products.
The software salesperson painted a rosy scenario of a physician walking from exam room to exam room with a Tablet PC, and by typing a few key strokes, generating a complete office note, prescriptions, a referral letter and instructions for the front office staff.
Understanding the basic concepts of cutaneous immunology, and specifically, the immunology of psoriasis, is vital to successfully embracing newer biologic therapies.
Tel Aviv, Israel - New research suggests a link between psoriasis and two diseases that are potentially serious: diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Sheffield, England - Researchers here are refuting previous studies’ claims that pentoxifylline is an effective long-term treatment for mouth ulcers, HealthDay News reports.
Winston-Salem, N.C.-Two studies published in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology suggest that oral lichen planus (OLP) responds well to methotrexate and oral erosive lichen planus (OELP) to pimecrolimus, news source Medscape reports.
Scottsdale, Ariz. - A pilot study done by researchers at the Mayo Clinic here has found that optical coherence tomography is as effective as routine histopathologic techniques for estimating the superficial thickness of basal cell carcinomas, HealthDay News reports.
Besancon, France - Researchers here say a superoxide dismutase (SOD) supplement, GliSODin, reduces the severity of redness associated with sunburn by almost 10 per cent.
Hanover, N.H. - Results of a Dartmouth Medical School study suggest that drinking two cups of tea daily can lower the risk of developing skin cancer, BBC News reports.
Philadelphia - According to a new study, the use of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER)-based classification system can help identify high-risk patients with thin cutaneous melanomas and thus improve clinical decision-making, Reuters Health reports.
Atlanta - A new study suggests that melanomas detected by dermatologists tend to be smaller and at an earlier stage than those found by non-dermatologists - and that these patients have a higher rate of survival.
Washington - Certain variants in the interleukin 10 (IL-10) promoter region can predict poor outcomes in patients with malignant melanoma, including tumor ulceration and recurrence, suggests research presented at the recent 60th annual meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology, here.
Albany, N.Y. - Two New York state legislators are co-sponsoring a bill that would require expiration dates on sun-care products.
Berlin - A new vitamin B6 derivative called Panadoxine P may become a commonly used ingredient in cosmetic products in the near future.
South San Francisco, Calif. - Israel’s Ministry of Health has granted approval for biopharmaceutical firm Pain Therapeutics Inc., based here, to begin human testing of a new treatment for metastatic melanoma.
Washington - The child of a soldier just back from Iraq has been hospitalized after developing a reaction to his father’s smallpox vaccination, reports Reuters Health. At press time, the 2-year-old boy was in critical condition, but doctors expressed cautious optimism that he was improving.
Sheffield, England - British researchers report they have identified a means by which to quickly detect the presence of bacteria by using a light device activated by polymer molecules. According to a BBC news report, the technology could have significant application in wound healing.
Alexandria, Va. - There has been a 69 percent increase in the number of women and a 91 increase in the number of men having nonsurgical facial plastic surgery since 2000, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) reports in its annual membership survey.
Washington - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving to ban scientists from serving on agency advisory panels if those scientists receive more than $50,000 from drug and medical-device companies.
